Highly deviated wells that have multiple zones from which production can take place sometimes experience water or other undesirable fluids from one zone when an adjacent zone is still viable and produces the desired fluids. In some instances the production tubing stops short in the horizontal portion of the well before all the producing zones. If the deeper zone is producing the desired fluids then the shallower zone needs to be isolated while the deeper zone allowed to produce. In situations where the production tubing is in the well and cannot be removed, there is a need for a solution of how to produce the deeper zone while isolating the shallower zone without taking the production tubing and associated isolation devices out of the well.
The present invention addresses this situation. It entails initially milling out the lower end of the production tubing equipment so that a bottom hole assembly run on coiled tubing can be advanced fully through the production tubing and into position at the zones in question. Preferably, inflatable packers are spaced apart to straddle the upper zone that was producing water or other undesirable fluids while allowing production from the deeper zone that is past the straddle while using the coiled tubing to produce the desired zone to the surface. One or more zones can be isolated with a straddle of spaced packers thus allowing the well to be placed back into service. These and other features of the invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the associated drawings while recognizing that the full scope of the invention can be determined from the appended claims.